Three-in-one maternity garment



Dec. 12, 1967 s. F. ENRICO THREE-IN-ONE MATERNITY GARMENT Filed Oct. 15, 1965' D INVENTOR.- NfE FENEIGO JTEPm HTTOENEY United States Patent G 3,357,435 THREE-lN-ONE MATERNITY GARMENT Stephanie F. Enrico, 175 Melrose Ave., San Francisco, Calif. 94112 Filed Oct. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 496,331 4 Claims. (Cl. 128-431) The present invention relates to improvements in a three-in-one maternity garment, and it consists in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a three-in-one maternity garment that can be woven or made of any lightweight, porous, stretchable or expandible newer material such as the nylons, Dacrons, Lycra, Spandex, etc. It could also be made of the old elastic type foundation material. Some areas of the garment are woven of varying degrees of tightness. The garment can stretch and yet will snugly engage the body for supporting it. The garment is made of a t-hree-in-one piece foundation and includes foot and leg portions as well as girdle and brassiere portions.

A further object of my invention is to provide a comfortable, smooth, three-in-one maternity garment that Will relieve the all-over general feeling of loose, limped tissues throughout the body and legs that are likely to enlarge and swell during the period of pregnancy. The design of the garment is such as to give additional support to areas of the body more weight and enlargement is felt, and thus relieve undue pressures that might cause more fatigue and irritation by wearing three separate garments.

My maternity garment will relieve some of the constriction of tight cutting pressure that is always experienced when wearing separate leg support hose, girdle and brassiere. The girdle portion of the garment exerts an upward and rearward pull to support the weight of the abdominal area as pregnancy progresses.

Because of the all-in-one design of the garment it will brace and gently uplift body pressure and provide a comfortable and smooth feeling throughout. At the same time the garment is flexible enough to permit the wearer to feel more free when moving about and will not hinder bending or walking movements or when climbing stairs.

The three-in-one garment is simple in construction and different parts of the garment are made of various tight or loose weaves so as to provide the greatest body support where needed. Certain portions of the garment are reinforced for providing additional lift and support to the body such as the seamed areas. The garment has a zipper at its front that extends from the center of the midritf portion of the girdle up to the top of the garment.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification continues. The novel features of the invention will be set forth in the appended claims.

Drawing For a better understanding of my invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawing, forming.

part of this specification, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the garment. FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the garment. FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation of the garment. FIGURE 4 is an enlarged bottom view of a crotch in the garment, and is taken along the line 4-4 of FIG- URE 1.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes,

or modifications may be made within the scope of the an-.

nexed claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

Detailed description In carrying out my invention, I provide a one piece garment that extends from the feet (not shown) of the wearer to the shoulders, see FIGURE 1. The leg and foot portions of the garment are indicated generally at A and B. These garment portions have a weave that is a bit tighter and fit more snugly than a womans stockings, more like a vein support hose. The leg and foot portions A and B merge into thigh portions C and D. Preferably the thigh portions are made of a tighter, slightly heavier stretch material than the portions A and B, but are integral with the leg portions. An inclined line 1 indicates the merging of the top of the leg portion A with the thigh portion C while the inclined line 2 indicates the merging of the leg portion B with the thigh portion D. FIGURE 2 illustrates how the line 1 extends upwardly and rearward'ly at a slant and FIGURE 3 indicates how the two thigh portions C and D are brought together along a single vertical seam line 3 at the back of the garment. The upward slanting of the thigh portions C and D will exert an upward and an inward yielding pull on the front portions of the body of the wearer. If the garment is woven, the thigh portions C and D would be made slightly tighter and heavier than the foot and leg portions since this portion of the body is closer to the weight-bearing portion as pregnancy increases.

The girdle portion E extends above the thigh portions C and D and is integral therewith. An upwardly inclined line 4 extends from the crotch 5 of the garment to an extension of the vertical back seam 3. This inclined line 4 constitutes the boundary between the girdle portion E and the thigh portions C and D. A second upwardly inclined line 6 indicates the merging between the top of the thigh portions C and D and the bottom of the girdle portion E.

The material forming the girdle portion E is preferably made slightly tighter than the material forming the thigh portions C and D. This may be made possible by a snugger and tighter weave or a thicker layer of material may be provided for the girdle portion as well as the thigh portion. Portions of the garment from the groin up to the brassiere material may be cut on a bias or tWo Way stretch cut. There are no reinforced triangular areas at any portion of the girdle E. The only area that will likely need tucking seams for cup-shaping, is the brassiere area H and these are not triangular shaped, but tucked or seamed for cup-shaping of the brassiere. There are three tucking seams for each cup-shaped portion in the brassiere. There will be one tuck 19 in the front of and under each cup-shaped portion of the brassiere. Then there will be two side tucks 20 and 21 for each cup-shaped portion, see FIGURES 1 and 2.

Another tuck 21a is placed near the zipper K and is inclined toward the tuck 19. The lower brassiere portion H and the band G have a tighter weave corresponding to the tightness of the weave of the thigh portions C and D. The portion of the garment disposed above the lower brassiere portion and up into the shoulder portion J and over the back has a tightness of weave corresponding to that of the leg and foot portions A and B.

FIGURE 2 indicates how the circular upwardly inclined from front to back portion E supports and lifts the front weight of the body of the wearer at the abdomen. In the case of pregnancy, this portion of the garment will give real support to the wearer. FIGURE 3 illustrates how the upper ends of the inclined line 7 extend to the vertical back seam 3. The effect of the girdle E is to yieldingly lift the front of the abdomen in an upward and rearward direction which will be comfortable to the wearer.

A midriif area is indicated at F and this is where the lower end of the zipper K begins at 8 at the front of the garment, see FIGURE 1. The upper edge 9 of the midriif area F coincides with the lower edge of a band G that extends from side to side of the garment and across the front. FIGURE 3 illustrates how the ends of the band G extend to the bottoms of elongated arm openings 14. The midriif area F is made preferably of a tight or heavy mate rial as the abdominal or girdle portion E and heavier than the thigh portions C and D. The purpose of the midritf portion F is to brace up the weight of the breasts at the time of pregnancy.

The shoulder portion I extends upwardly from the top 11 of the brassiere portion H and has two shoulder straps 12 and -13. These straps are about 1 /2 wide and extend over the shoulders of the wearer and provide elongated openings 14 for the wearers arms. The purpose of the elongated openings 14 at the arm pit is to prevent pressure and irritation to the underarm glands, as the breasts enlarge through pregnancy. The zipper K as shown in FIG- URE 1, extends from the top of the girdle or abdominal portion -E to the top of the shoulder portion J at the front of the garment. When the zipper is opened, the person may step into the garment by inserting her legs in the leg and foot portions A and B and then inserting her arms through the elongated arm openings 14 after which the zipper K can be closed.

The crotch of the garment is shown in FIGURE 4. In this figure the front of the garment is indicated at 15 and the rear of the garment is shown at 16. The back seam line 3 commences at this point. An opening 17 is provided in the crotch between the front 15 and rear 16 of the garment. The two sides of the crotch opening overlap each other slightly during normal wearing of the garment. FIGURE 4 shows the sides of the opening 17 spread apart to a slight extent.

The crotch is so designed so as to relieve any cutting sensationln fact the entire garment is designed to provide a uniform feeling of smooth comfort throughout all areas of the body contacted by the garment. The circulation throughout the body areas as pregnancy progresses is not interfered with by the garment because of the three: in-one design, it is free to expand. The garment is suspended from the shoulder straps 12 and 13 and there is a uniform body-supporting feeling provided by the garment because it is of a single piece although extending from the shoulders down to the foot portions, not shown, in the drawing. The garment will not tend to aggravate the impediment of circulation in the thigh, leg or waist areas. It is free of tight bands, buttons, stays, strings and the like. The garment will relieve to a high degree the downward pressure in body areas around the stomach and breast and will give a feeling of gentle smoothness as well as a comfortable uplift.

Pregnant women and others with backaches and leg problems willexperience smooth relief and comfort when wearing the one piece garment. It relievt s the discomfort of cutting or burning sensations as sometimes experienced by women when wearing separate hose, girdle and brassiere because these. three are formed into. a single, smooth three-inone garment in. my invention.

The foot and leg portions A and B, are preferably of the lightest mesh, stretch weave or support hose, and, these will extend up to the inclined lines 1 and 2 that constitute the boundaries between the leg and thigh portions C and D. The thigh portions C and D are made of a heavier material and this will provide better bracing and will give an uplift to the part of the. body enclosed by them.

The abdominal area E, the midriif or waist area F and the lower portion of the brassiere area H are made of the heavier weave material for relieving pressure and minimizing abdominal pressures and any back strain resulting from fatigue. The oval arms openings 14 are providedto give space under the arms so the garment will'not touch or apply pressure to or irritate any glands that are under the arms. Yet the sides of the portions J at the front of the garment, see FIGURE 2, will fit snugly against the body so as to prevent any overhanging or cutting of the breast portions, near, the oval openings 14.

FIGURE 2 shows that all of the garment portions from the thigh portions C and D up. to the brassiere portions H extend upwardly toward the back seam 3 of the garment in order to give an upward support to the body of the wearer. The neck portion at the back is V-shaped at 18 although it could be made round or square, see FIG- URE 3.

I claimz 1. A three-in-one single piece garment comprising:

(a) two leg and foot portions of a light mesh stretch weave;

(b thigh portions integral with said legs and foot portions and being of a tighter and slightly heavier stretch weave than said leg and foot portions, said thigh portions extending upwardly on a curve from the front of the garment then around the sides of the garment, and to the rear of the garment, where they meet to provide a central rear seam;

(c) a girdle portion disposed above said thigh portions and being integral therewith, said girdle portion having a stretch weave slightly tighter and heavier than the thigh material and extending upwardly on an incline from the front to the rear seam of the garment so as to exert an upward and rearward yielding pull on the abdomen of the wearer;

(d) a midrilf portion disposed above said girdle portion and being integral therewith and having a stretch weave similar thereto, said midriff portion extending upwardly on an incline from the front to the rear seam of the garment so as to exert an upward and rearward yielding pull on the front of the wearers body;

(e) a band integral with the top of said midriff portion and extending across the front of the garment and from side to side thereof; said band having a stretch weave similar to said midrilf and girdle portions;

(f) a lower brassiere portion integral with and extending above said band portion and having a stretch weave similar thereto; said brassiere portion having two cup-shaped areas, each having central and side tucks;

(g) a shoulder portion extending above and being ir1 tegral with said lower brassiere portion and having shoulder straps extending down at the back of the garmentto the rear part of the midriff portion, said shoulder. portion having a stretch weave similar to said leg and foot portions; and

(h) a zipper extending along the front of the garment from the center of the shoulder portion down to said midriif portion.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which (a) the shoulder portion is provided with elongated armreceiving openings.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which I I i W (a) a crotch is provided in the thigh portions and has an opening with overlapping edges.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 2: and in which I (a) the ends of said band terminate adjacent to said elongated arm receiving openings.

No references cited.

ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A THREE-IN-ONE SINGLE PIECE GARMENT COMPRISING: (A) TWO LEG AND FOOT PORTIONS OF A LIGHT MESH STRETCH WEAVE; (B) THIGH PORTIONS INTEGRAL WITH SAID LEGS AND FOOT PORTIONS AND BEING OF A TIGHTER AND SLIGHTLY HEAVIER STRETCH WEAVE THAN SAID LEG AND FOOT PORTIONS, SAID THIGH PORTIONS EXTENDING UPWARDLY ON A CURVE FROM THE FRONT OF THE GARMENT THEN AROUND THE SIDES OF THE GARMENT, AND TO THE REAR OF THE GARMENT, WHERE THEY MEET TO PROVIDE A CENTRAL REAR SEAM; (C) A GIRDLE PORTION DISPOSED ABOVE SAID THIGH PORTIONS AND BEING INTEGRAL THEREWITH, SAID GIRDLE PORTION HAVING A STRETCH WEAVE SLIGHTLY TIGHTER AND HEAVIER THAN THE THIGH MATERIAL AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ON AN INCLINE FROM THE FRONT TO THE REAR SEAM OF THE GARMENT SO AS TO EXERT AN UPWARD AND REARWARD YIELDING PULL ON THE ABDOMEN OF THE WEARER; (D) A MIDRIFF PORTION DISPOSED ABOVE SAID GIRDLE PORTION AND BEING INTEGRAL THEREWITH AND HAVING A STRETCH WEAVE SIMILAR THERETO, SAID MIDRIFF PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY ON AN INCLINE FROM THE FRONT TO THE REAR SEAM OF THE GARMENT SO AS TO EXERT AN UPWARD AND REARWARD YIELDING PULL ON THE FRONT OF THE WEARER''S BODY; (E) A BAND INTEGRAL WITH THE TOP OF SAID MIDRIFF PORTION AND EXTENDING ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE GARMENT AND FROM SIDE TO SIDE THEREOF; SAID BAND HAVING A STRETCH WEAVE SIMILAR TO SAID MIDRIFF AND GIRDLE PORTIONS; (F) A LOWER BRASSIERE PORTION INTEGRAL WITH AND EXTENDING ABOVE SAID BAND PORTION AND HAVING A STRETCH WEAVE SIMILAR THERETO; SAID BRASSIERE PORTION HAVING TWO CUP-SHAPED AREAS, EACH HAVING CENTRAL AND SIDE TUCKS; (G) A SHOULDER PORTION EXTENDING ABOVE AND BEING INTEGRAL WITH SAID LOWER BRASSIERE PORTION AND HAVING SHOULDER STRAPS EXTENDING DOWN AT THE BACK OF THE GARMENT TO THE REAR PART OF THE MIDRIFF PORTION, SAID SHOULDER PORTION HAVING A STRETCH WEAVE SIMILAR TO SAID LEG AND FOOT PORTIONS; AND (H) A ZIPPER EXTENDING ALONG THE FRONT OF THE GARMENT FROM THE CENTER OF THE SHOULDER PORTION DOWN TO SAID MIDRIFF PORTION. 